"1979 NCAA Division I Basketball Championship Game The 1979 NCAA Division I Basketball Championship Game was the final of the 1979 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament and determined the national champion for the 1978–79 season. The game was held on at the Special Events Center (now the Jon M. Huntsman Center) at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. In the game, the Indiana State Sycamores of the Missouri Valley Conference faced the Michigan State Spartans of the Big Ten Conference. The Sycamores entered the contest undefeated for the season, while the Spartans had six losses. Spartans guard"
"Basketball Hall of Fame. He is currently the co-host of ""NBA Today"", which airs weekdays on Sirius XM NBA Radio and also is the play-by-play TV analyst for the Phoenix Suns on Fox Sports Arizona. After graduating from Chicago's Westinghouse High School, Johnson, a sharpshooting 6'7"" forward/guard, attended the University of Illinois, majoring in history, before being selected by the Kansas City Kings in the 1981 NBA draft. Among Fighting Illini fans he is probably best remembered for his game-winning shot against Michigan State University (MSU). At the time, MSU, which was led by future all-time NBA great Earvin ""Magic"""
"banter with colleague Billy Packer helped increase the popularity of college basketball across the United States. McGuire was courtside for the landmark 1979 championship game between Indiana State and Michigan State that pitted Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, which is remembered as a game that vastly enhanced the appeal of college basketball. Reflecting on the event ten years later, McGuire said that the 1979 title game in Salt Lake City ""put college basketball on its afterburner."" That national championship game remains the highest-rated NCAA Final broadcast. After a long bout with leukemia, McGuire died at age 72 in 2001 in"
"was actually laid down in college basketball of the late 1970s. During the 1978–79 NCAA season, Michigan State was led by Magic Johnson to the championship game of the NCAA Tournament, where they faced Indiana State University, which was led by senior Larry Bird. In what was the most-watched college basketball game ever, Michigan State defeated Indiana State 75–64, and Johnson was voted Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. Magic Johnson would go on to be drafted by the Lakers, and Larry Bird by the Celtics. The personal rivalry formed by these two basketball greats during college would transfer"
"MSU. His teams appeared in nine NCAA Tournaments, four Sweet Sixteens, one Elite Eight, one Final Four and won one National Championship. After his early success with Magic Johnson and company, Heathcote finished his career strong, appearing in five NCAA Tournaments in his final six years. However, he never advanced past the Sweet Sixteen after winning the championship in 1979. His teams also appeared in three NITs reaching the NIT Final Four in 1989. Heathcote was named Big Ten Coach of the Year in 1978 and 1986. Heathcote was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, Class of"
"round of the playoffs. In the 1979 NBA draft, Los Angeles selected point guard Magic Johnson from Michigan State with the first overall pick. It took Johnson's teammates time to acclimate themselves to his passing ability, as his ""no-look"" passes often caught them unaware. Once they adjusted, his passing became a key part of Los Angeles' offense. The Lakers won 60 games in Johnson's rookie year, and defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in six games in the 1980 NBA Finals. Johnson won the Finals MVP award, after starting at center for the injured Abdul-Jabbar in game six, and tallying 42 points,"
"coached and the coaches he mentored. Spartan basketball is what it is today because of Jud Heathcote."" Several of Heathcote's former assistants and players went on to successful head coaching jobs including: Jud Heathcote George Melvin ""Jud"" Heathcote (May 27, 1927 – August 28, 2017) was an American basketball player and coach. He was a college basketball head coach for 24 seasons: five at the University of Montana and nineteen at Michigan State University Heathcote coached Magic Johnson during his two years at Michigan State, concluding with the 1979 national championship season. Born in Harvey, North Dakota, to Marion Grant"
"Jud Heathcote George Melvin ""Jud"" Heathcote (May 27, 1927 – August 28, 2017) was an American basketball player and coach. He was a college basketball head coach for 24 seasons: five at the University of Montana and nineteen at Michigan State University Heathcote coached Magic Johnson during his two years at Michigan State, concluding with the 1979 national championship season. Born in Harvey, North Dakota, to Marion Grant Heathcote and Fawn (Walsh) Heathcote; his father was a coach, but died in a 1930 diphtheria epidemic. His mother was a teacher and moved to live with her parents in Manchester, Washington,"
"faced No. 1 ranked and undefeated Indiana State led by senior Larry Bird. In what was the most-watched college basketball game ever, Michigan State defeated Indiana State 75–64 to win the school's first ever basketball National Championship. Earvin ""Magic"" Johnson was voted Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. After two years in college, in which he averaged 17.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 7.9 assists per game, Johnson declared himself eligible for the 1979 NBA draft. Source !colspan=9 style=| Regular season !colspan=9 style=|NCAA Tournament Source 1978–79 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team The 1978–79 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team"
"newly launched ESPN cable network) working with Billy Packer while Dick Enberg worked with Al McGuire. NBC's coverage of the 1979 NCAA championship game between Indiana State and Michigan State to this day, remains the highest-rated game (garnering a 24.1 rating) in the history of televised college basketball. The final game marked the beginning of the rivalry between future Hall of Famers Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Both Johnson and Bird would enter the NBA in the fall of 1979, and the rivalry between them and their respective teams (the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics) was a major factor"
"start of the rivalry between all-time greats Magic Johnson and Magic's Michigan State team defeated Bird's previously unbeaten Indiana State in the which remains the most-watched college basketball game in history. Many observers consider the Magic-Bird rivalry established here and carried into the NBA when both entered the league that fall to be a major factor in the league's 1980s renaissance. Jon M. Huntsman Center The Jon M. Huntsman Center is a 15,000-seat indoor arena in the western United States, on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. It is the home of the Utah Utes"
"unfamiliar with the sport. In addition, the network requested that players wear names on the backs of their jerseys for the ""NBC Hockey Game of the Week"". Nameplates would become standard in the NHL. Beginning in 1969, NBC televised college basketball, including the NCAA Tournament. In 1979, NBC televised the NCAA Championship that pitted future NBA rivals Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Johnson's Michigan State Spartans defeated Bird's Indiana State Sycamores, 75-64. The game earned a 24.1 rating, the highest ever for a college basketball game. By this time, NBC was mired in third place in the ratings, however sports"
"as a recruit. The 1977–78 Spartans won the Big Ten title, their first since 1967, qualified for the NCAA tournament for only the third time in school history, and advanced to the Elite Eight. They were led by Johnson and Greg Kelser. In 1979, the duo led the Spartans to a second consecutive Big Ten title and the NCAA National Championship. The NCAA championship marked the school's first in basketball. Following the championship, Johnson left school to join the NBA and Kelser graduated. The result was a ninth place finish in the Big Ten the next year and struggles thereafter."
"the basket. He became the third Crenshaw High basketball player to attend UCLA—his father was the first. Marques had won the 1977 John R. Wooden Award as the college basketball player of the year. Johnson chose UCLA over Washington State, Arizona State, Arizona, Loyola Marymount, Ohio State and Louisville. He was a key player from 1994–98 at UCLA, where he wore his father's No. 54. Like his father, he won a national championship. The Johnsons are one of four father-son duos to each win an NCAA basketball championship. UCLA was 102–27 and won three consecutive Pacific-10 titles during Johnson's career."
"advanced to the national semifinals, losing narrowly to UCLA. Legend Dolph Pulliam becomes the first athlete to be selected in both the NBA and NFL drafts. Pulliam was drafted by the Boston Celtics and Dallas Cowboys in 1969. Football returned to the MVC in 1971, 20 years after the Bright incident. Baseball was dropped in 1974. Following changes in NCAA regulation in 1985, football was briefly dropped before returning as a non-scholarship Division III sport; it later returned to Division I but remains non-scholarship. Alumnus Zach Johnson has won two major championships, the 2007 Masters and the 2015 Open Championship."
"freshman season. His impressive on-court skills earned him the sobriquet ""Special K"", after the locally-made cereal. In his junior year (the freshman year for Earvin ""Magic"" Johnson and Jay Vincent) under coach Jud Heathcote, the Spartans squad had an impressive season, racking up a 25–5 record, the Big Ten Conference title, and a berth in the 1978 NCAA tournament, where they made it to the regional finals before losing narrowly to eventual champion Kentucky. As a senior, he along with Johnson led the Spartans to the 1979 NCAA tournament championship, the first in the school's history. He was often on"
"the most-watched college basketball game ever, Michigan State defeated Indiana State 75–64, and Johnson was voted Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. !colspan=8 style=| Regular Season !colspan=8 | 1979 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament !colspan=8 | 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament 1978–79 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball team The 1978–79 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball team is considered the greatest in the school's history. The Sycamores were undefeated in the regular season and were led by Larry Bird. He led an undefeated team to the national title game versus a Magic Johnson-led Michigan State Spartans team,"
"as head varsity basketball coach at Highlands High School of North Highlands, California and stayed as coach until 1969. After completing his master's degree at Michigan State, Berry became head coach at Cosumnes River Junior College from 1970 to 1972. Then, Berry became an assistant coach at the NCAA Division I level with California until 1977. Berry then returned to his alma mater Michigan State to be an assistant coach under Jud Heathcote and was part of the coaching staff of the 1979 NCAA championship team that featured Magic Johnson. From 1979 to 1989, Berry was the head men's basketball"
"Baylor's Michael Johnson, Texas A&M's Randy Matson, Rice's Fred Hansen, Houston's Carl Lewis and Arkansas' Mike Conley all went on to win Olympic gold medals. The 1980s saw many of the conference's athletic programs hit by recruiting scandals and NCAA probations. The only programs to escape probation in the 1980s were Arkansas, Baylor, and Rice. Because of repeated major violations, in 1987, the SMU Mustangs football program became only the third in NCAA history to receive the so-called ""Death Penalty"" (after Kentucky basketball in 1952-53 and Southwestern Louisiana basketball from 1973 to 1975). The NCAA canceled SMU's 1987 season, and"
"Magic Johnson Earvin ""Magic"" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American retired professional basketball player and current president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played point guard for the Lakers for 13 seasons. After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA draft by the Lakers. He won a championship and an NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in his rookie season, and won four more championships with the Lakers during the 1980s. Johnson retired abruptly in 1991 after announcing that"
"31 points to the eventual national champion Michigan State Spartans who were led by Earvin ""Magic"" Johnson. As a junior in 1979–80, Davis averaged 16.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Despite the dip in his statistics, he did record a career-high 2.5 blocks per game, and his 75 blocked shots set a still-standing single season school record. Lamar finished atop the Southland Conference yet again with a 22–11 (8–2) record, and for the second consecutive season earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament. As the #10 seed, they edged #7 Weber State, 87–86, in the first round. Their second"
"Expos), eventually achieving a franchise-record 98 wins—the most wins in baseball that year. On November 10, Johnson signed a contract to return as manager of the Nationals for the 2013 season. On November 13, Johnson was named National League Manager of the Year. On September 29, 2013, Johnson announced his retirement. In 2014, he became a consultant. Johnson was born in Orlando, Florida. He graduated from Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio, Texas. He also attended the Johns Hopkins University and Texas A&M University, and he graduated from Trinity University in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. Johnson"
"by Bryant Gumbel McGuire left NBC after that network lost TV rights to the NCAA Basketball Championships but was the feature producer in 1979 on the highest-rated college game ever, the Magic Johnson versus Larry Bird championship between Michigan State and Indiana State. McGuire is featured in Seth Davis' book ""When March Went Mad"" about the Bird/Johnson game in 1979. For NBC, McGuire produced the telecast of the history-making heavyweight fight in Johannesburg between Gerry Coetzee and Randy Stephens- the first competition between a black man and a white man in South Africa. He was coordinating producer for the 1979"
"rookie Magic Johnson played center for the Lakers in place of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who was out because of a sprained ankle sustained in Game Five) and scored 42 points. In the 1981 Eastern Conference Finals, the 76ers opened a 3–1 series lead over the Celtics only to see Boston come back and win the series in seven games. The following season, the 76ers again faced the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, and again jumped to a 3–1 series lead only to see Boston forge a 3–3 series tie. The 76ers were given little chance of winning as they faced"
"USOC Committee Chairman. He was then named to the USOC Board of Directors and in 1996 he was awarded the USOC Olympic Torch Award. In the 1978–79 season at Michigan State University, his teams captured the Big Ten Conference titles in football, basketball and baseball—the so-called triple crown. The 1978–79 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team, led by future NBA Hall of Fame forward Magic Johnson defeated Indiana State (led by fellow future NBA Hall of Famer Larry Bird) in the title game of the 1979 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament. Kearney hired and worked with some of the most"
"Player of the Year, Marques Johnson, but second-ranked UCLA lost to unranked Idaho State by a point in the Sweet Sixteen at As of 2008, he is the second-highest winning percentage at UCLA, behind Gary Cunningham (.862) and above After just two years at UCLA, Bartow left in 1977 to take over the job of creating an athletic program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He served as the Blazers' first head basketball coach and athletic director for 18 years. Bartow led UAB to the NIT in 1980, the program's second year of existence, and followed that up"
"He gave Chastine much of the credit for his development as a basketball player and as a person, saying years later, ""I doubted myself back then."" Johnson and Chastine were almost always together, playing basketball or riding around in Chastine's car. Upon learning of Chastine's death, Magic ran from his home, crying uncontrollably. Johnson, who finished his high school career with two All-State selections, was considered at the time to be the best high school player ever to come out of Michigan and was also named to the 1977 McDonald's All-American team. Although Johnson was recruited by several top-ranked colleges"
"Greenburg stated that the documentary was partly inspired by the book ""When the Game Was Ours"" by Jackie MacMullan. Earvin ""Magic"" Johnson and Larry Bird were rivals on the basketball court but unlikely friends off of it. After Johnson's team won in the 1979 NCAA championship game, Johnson would be drafted first in the 1979 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. Bird had been selected as an underclassman by the Boston Celtics at the #6 spot in the 1978 draft, but opted to play his senior season at Indiana State before signing the richest rookie contract to that time"
"Bird and Johnson both turned professional after the 1978–79 college season, and wound up playing for the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, respectively. The 1979 NCAA championship game was the first encounter in a rivalry that developed as the two continued their careers. The Celtics and Lakers met three times in the NBA Finals during the 1980s, and the pair helped to increase national interest in the NBA. ESPN's Andy Katz wrote that Bird and Johnson ""helped create the interest in the Final Four and they made today's NBA."" 1979 NCAA Division I Basketball Championship Game The 1979 NCAA"
"consecutive years. <nowiki>*</nowiki>Stats after being traded to the Lakers.<br> †Stats before being traded from the Lakers. 1979–80 Los Angeles Lakers season The highlight of the Los Angeles Lakers season of 1979–80 was rookie Magic Johnson leading the Lakers to their seventh NBA Championship, defeating the Philadelphia 76ers in six games in the NBA Finals. This was also the team's first season under the ownership of Jerry Buss. Magic's season represented the birth of the Showtime Lakers. Having won everything possible at the college level, Johnson decided to leave college two years early and declared himself eligible for the 1979 NBA"
"he and Magic Johnson had a vested interest. Greg Kelser Gregory Kelser (born September 17, 1957) is a retired American basketball player and current television color commentator. Kelser played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1979 to 1985 and is best known for his standout college basketball career at Michigan State. Kelser grew up in a military family, spending part of his childhood in Okinawa. He credits his exposure to military discipline with contributing to his later success in athletics. Upon graduating from Detroit Henry Ford High School in 1975, Kelser was brought to Michigan State by Gus Ganakas,"
"University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he was head coach until 1982. He led the Badgers to seven NCAA tournaments, winning three championships in 1973, 1977, and 1981. It was at Wisconsin where Johnson earned the nickname, ""Badger Bob."" Johnson also coached the 1976 Winter Olympic hockey team, the 1981, 1984 and 1987 U.S. teams in the Canada Cup tournament, and the 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1981 U.S. national teams. In 1982, Johnson began his National Hockey League career when he became the head coach of the Calgary Flames, a position he held for five seasons. In the 1985–86 season, he coached"
"University for the 1977–78 and 1978-79 seasons. One of the most prolific scorers in Baylor basketball history, Johnson averaged 24.1 points per game in his two seasons in Waco. A two-time All-American, Johnson is the school record-holder in points-per-game average, ranks 15th in career points, and third in career assists average at Baylor. He was named All-SWC in both 1978 and 1979. Johnson also holds the Baylor record for most points scored in a game with 50 against TCU in 1979. Johnson was chosen as the No. 7 overall pick in the 1979 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics. He"